


There goes another one

by withoutmaps



Category: Norse Mythology
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-18
Updated: 2010-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-13 18:22:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/140301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withoutmaps/pseuds/withoutmaps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor is actually the best Pledge Master of all of the fraternities on campus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There goes another one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [llassah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/llassah/gifts).



Thor is actually the best Pledge Master of all of the fraternities on campus and all of the Tau Kappa Epsilon recruits know it; he tells them every year at the beginning of pledge and several times throughout. They’re nothing but trouble, the little shits, but Thor loves his recruits, and even let them trail after him like baby ducks for a few weeks at the very beginning of pledging. It’s only for a little while, though, before he starts to get tough on them.

It’s his second year as Pledge Master, his senior year, and Thor may be the best, but he's also got the best group of pledges of any fraternity. Except for one. His president, known to the plebes only as Odin, took one look at the kid and nicknamed him Loki. And it fits because all he ever does is get in trouble; he’s clever, sneaky, and a huge pain in Thor’s ass.

Loki spends the first few weeks of pledge earning himself and the rest of his class extra push ups and chores, or staying up until midnight doing the entire house’s dishes by himself because he spoke before being spoken to. He doesn't ever seem to mind getting into trouble, only grins and nods, and steps up to take his punishment. Half of his class hates him, and the other half can't seem to help but love him. He drives Thor crazy, showing up late to meetings, pillow creases etched into his cheek, and failing completely at memorizing anything he's asked to remember.

Thor's not actually sure what he's going to do with Loki, especially not after he's assigned to be his Big. He didn't have a Little the year before, exempt from mentoring because of his position as Master. This year, though, they're one Big short and Thor knows, feels it in his gut, before it's ever officially announced. As the enforcer, of course he'd get Loki.

Loki's got a wicked sense of humor, and Thor is almost surprised to find that he likes him. Sarcastic and too clever for his own good, he’s got a gift for reading people, finding their strengths and weaknesses. He tells Thor some of what he’s figured out when they’re supposed to be studying in the library, usually in quick asides that Thor only barely manages to process before Loki's moved on, content to leave him a step behind.

He makes Thor laugh.

Charm is his biggest flaw, Thor's decided after being his Big for a full, terror-filled week. Loki has the absolute confidence that comes from being too charming. Most of Thor's brothers just shake their heads when they catch him getting into trouble and then hand out the smallest punishment they can get away with.

\--

It’s not surprising that Loki is the pledge all the brothers worry about.

"What do you think?" Odin asks him at a mixer halfway through pledge. It's a toga party, Thor's least favorite theme, and Odin is relaxed and easy-going in his sheet, a ring of leaves on his head. Loki is across the yard, arms slung over the shoulders of a couple girls from Gamma Phi. Smiling down at them, he’s got his charm face on, and Thor makes a mental note to keep an eye on them.

"Trouble," Thor says, scowling. Loki's misplaced his pin twice this week and been late for one of their meetings. "Hard to believe sometimes that he even got a bid."

Odin gives him a look and passes a cup of beer over to one of their younger brothers.

“He’s young,” Thor says, little more than a grunt, and Odin agrees with that, at least.

"He's very smart, good with people." Odin says, diplomatic as always, and Thor feels suitably chastised. He's the best Pledge Master because Odin has shown him how to be, how to respect his brothers and his pledges.

\--

Loki is actually the worst pledge Thor has seen in his entire four years at Tau Kappa. He’s cheeky, doesn’t hesitate to mouth off at any of his superiors, and can’t seem to make it anywhere on time. Or quietly.

Despite all that, Thor finds himself going soft, and giving Loki a little bit of leeway in their study meetings. All Bigs are required to spend a specific amount of time each week with their Little. Bonding time.

It’s easiest to meet at the library and get in some study time before they head over to the house for whatever is planned there. Loki is almost always late, rolling in with a grin and dropping his books noisily across the table from Thor.

Every week is the same. Thor says, “One day they’re going to ban you,” eyebrows drawn together, and Loki just grins back at him.

“They love me. Everyone loves me,” he says, after he’s pulled his chair out with as much noise as possible and then dropped down into it.

“You’re a menace,” Thor says, lacking the heat he had the first week. Loki’s managed to get down under his skin, just like he has with the rest of the brothers and recruits. Menace doesn’t even manage to cover it.

\--

The semester is nearly over when true crisis hits. Each year the fraternities participate in a righteous prank war. Thor's kids won the year before with a truly genius prank pulled on Delta Kappa. He has high hopes for this year, if only just for the simple presence of Loki.

Loki's pranks are works of art, perfectly thought-out and executed, and Thor is inexplicably proud whenever they gain a point in the standings.

Thor isn’t expecting, though, to end up on the receiving end of a prank. He wakes up one morning at the tail end of the prank war missing his pin. His panic is immediate and deep, pulling his guts up tight as he searches his room, in what, he knows, is vain. He sleeps with his pin, keeps it stuck over his heart at nearly all times. The only time it strays is when he showers, and then it is buried safely in his bookcase, a place none of his illiterate brothers would think to look.

When he's finally accepted defeat, Thor digs his phone out of the new mess on his floor. The first person he texts is, rather unexpectedly, Loki.

Sleep rumpled and slow, Loki shows up at Thor's door in just under fifteen minutes. He grumbles and groans, saying, "This had better be good," but it's all for show. He takes one look at Thor's face and shuts the door. He drops into Thor's desk chair and immediately slouches forward, for all intents and purpose at ease. Thor can see the thin line of tension in his shoulders, though, and doesn't regret his decision.

"My pin is gone."

Loki's spine goes stiff, snapping him out of his slouch. "Motherfuckers," he says, and he can only be thinking of one group of motherfuckers.

"Kappas," they both say. Thor adds his own growling, "Motherfuckers," as he sinks down onto his bed. He is absolutely, completely, one hundred percent fucked. His punishment will be huge; as Pledge Master, it is unacceptable for him to lose his pin, especially in the middle of a prank war.

Thor gets up to pace, back and forth, to the window and back. He swears, once, but Loki only hums at him and Thor starts to relax. Loki is lost deep in thought and that can only mean one thing: the Kappas are going to seriously regret their decision on this one.

After a few minutes, Loki settles back into a slouch, and smiles. "It'll be fine," he says, and Thor narrows his eyes at him. There's a wicked grin on his face and he looks far too pleased with himself. Thor's not sure he's going to like it much more than the Kappas.

\--

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Thor says, frowning. The dress is-- well, not exactly what he thought he’d be doing with his Friday night. Not even close.

Loki is thin, built lean, and looks nearly perfect in his short skirt and wig. Thor, though, is just sort of mildly ugly. The wig is long, hanging down into his eyes, and the dress is uncomfortable. It scratches lightly against his freshly shaved legs, and Thor wants to kill every single brother and recruit in Kappa. Sneaking into their party tonight is going to be nowhere near revenge enough.

“You look fine,” Loki says, and then has the temerity to giggle. He looks like a girl, looks like he’s done this before as he pivots easily in his borrowed heels.

“You’ve done this before,” Thor swears. Loki doesn’t deny it, even, just grins and goes back to trying to make Thor actually look like a girl.

“All right,” Loki says, finally, and Thor stares forlornly at himself in the mirror. His jaw is too wide, his five o’clock shadow too visible, but Loki has done a decent job. Thor’s shoulders are hidden by a demure cardigan, and the wig has long bangs.

Hopefully it will be enough.

\--

Getting in is easy, easier than Thor expected. He lets Loki do all of the talking, lets him flirt with the Kappas at the door, winding them around his little finger. He’s a surprisingly convincing woman, giggling at their terrible jokes while Thor rolls his eyes behind his bangs.

Figuring out where his pin is is only slightly more difficult than sneaking in. Loki picks out one of the pledges, randomly it seems to Thor, and it takes less than a half hour and only one awkward, “Maybe we should ditch your silent friend here, and find some place a little more private,” before Thor’s listening to the pledge describe how he pulled off the best prank of the year, stealing the pin from Teke’s Pledge Master.

Loki stops him from killing the little shit before they’ve got the pin with only a hand on his wrist, a high-pitched giggle, and a breathy, “What did you do with it?”

Trailing Loki and the genius pledge up to his tiny room, Thor clenches his fists and forces himself to swallow his anger. It’s no good if he gives up the game now.

Loki flirts with the boy all the way up to his room, laughing and egging him on, until finally the three of them are crammed into the tiniest room Thor’s ever seen. Split between four pledges, there’s clothes covering nearly every flat area, and even some not so flat.

The biggest surprise, perhaps, is that the pledge hasn’t shown his president or his own pledge master. Thor’s pin definitely wouldn’t be shoved into the back of his underwear drawer if he had.

“Idiot,” Thor mutters, and gets an elbow from Loki for his trouble.

There’s another moment or two of oohing and aahing and Thor’s thrilled that the kid doesn’t even see it coming. Suddenly he’s standing there with a hand around his neck and Thor’s forcing his hand open, taking his pin back. He gasps and flails a little, trying to get away maybe.

He starts to stutter, trying to say something and before he can put any coherency together Thor’s in his face, saying, “If you ever come into my room, if you ever come anywhere near me, I will destroy you.”

The boy just gapes up at him and Thor gives his shoulder a little shake, and says, “You hear me?” Finally, he nods frantically and Thor reluctantly lets go, setting him back against his dresser.

“Well,” Loki says, voice bright. “Ready to blow this hole?” The smile on his face is wide, as if nothing has gone amiss, the two of them just out for a nighttime stroll in their womanly best.

Thor gives the young pledge one last long look, straightens his dress, and then lets Loki out of the room first.

\--

Teke wins the prank war when the Kappas, their only real competition, wakes up on the last day with their shoes all super glued to the floor.

Thor hasn’t been a part of a prank war since his own pledge days, but Loki stops by his room just before they leave and it’s too much to resist, not getting in on the win.

\--

They’re going over recruits, deciding who will make the cut and who won’t, and when they get to Loki there isn’t much of a debate.

It’s pure formality when Odin says his name, and looks up at Thor. “What do you think?”

He doesn’t need to think about it, not really, but he takes a second. He thinks about Loki doing his makeup and zipping up his dress. He thinks about Loki doing a hundred push ups for forgetting his pin when he’d really let Thor borrow it for a day.

Thor thinks about the way Loki had recited the Teke motto a few days ago and it’s that, the serious look on his face and the way he’d delivered it, perfectly, that makes Thor nod, and say, “Yes.”


End file.
